Enve CX disc specific cyclocross wheelset launched

Enve has launched their first racing-focused, disc-specific wheelset – the Enve CX.

Available only as a tubular, disc-compatible set-up, the CX is designed to offer a more forgiving ride across demanding cyclocross courses where the terrain can go from sloppy mud to rough roots and stone-bedevilled ground in a heartbeat.

Enve senior engineer, Kevin Nelson, said: "A common thread in the feedback from our athletes was the desire for a more forgiving carbon rim. As a cross racer myself I wanted to create a rim that rolled faster and more forgivingly over rough and rooty cross courses, and this new cross-specific rim accomplishes that."

With faster-rolling and more-damping ticked off the wishlist, Enve also optimised the tyre bed, utilising woven carbon to produce a durable surface to accommodate the regular installations and removals that every CX rider will be accustomed to.

Rather than being a standard rim laced to a disc-compatible hub, Enve has used this opportunity to create a fresh design free from the constraints that the necessity for a braking surface places upon the engineering process. The result is a more efficient rim structure that's strong and stiff, yet sublimely light. Each rim weighs just 285g, making the CX wheels some of the lightest on the market.

The Enve CX wheels also offer a tailored profile for chunky CX tyres falling within the UCI's 33mm maximum width. That tyre-to-rim interface has also been specifically engineered to limit the occurrence of pinch punctures.

Enve's director of marketing, Jake Pantone, said: "Pinch flats can be a real problem in cyclocross racing when in order to have optimised traction you need to run lower tire pressure. Then there is the fact that a cyclocross tubular isn't inexpensive. The rim profile is more rounded at the rim's edge which drastically decreases the incidence of pinch flats."

As usual, Enve has been working away on the new wheel behind closed doors but production is well underway. The first wheelsets – built on Chris King or DT Swiss hubs – are due to ship from the company's base in Ogden, Utah, at the end of October.